UI2024001225 & UI2024001226

             The Appellants are both nationals of Somalia, currently residing in Ethiopia. They are respectively a mother (born 15 th March 1985) and her son (15 th June 2004. They seek entry clearance as the pre-flight family members of their refugee Sponsor. The Sponsor states that the Appellants are his wife and son.

             The applications for entry clearance were made on the 20 th December 2021. The Appellants asserted family reunion rights under what were then paragraphs 352 and 352D of the Immigration Rules.

             The appeals came before First-tier Tribunal Judge Thorne, who by his written decision of the 28 th November 2023 dismissed them. He noted that the Sponsor left Somalia in 2008, and that he does not appear to have ever lived with either of the Appellants. Although DNA evidence had been produced demonstrating that the Second Appellant is in fact the son of the Sponsor and the First Appellant, this did not demonstrate that there was a subsisting family life between them.

             The Appellants appealed to the Upper Tribunal. The matter came before Deputy Upper Tribunal Judge Woodcraft who by his decision of the 28 th December 2023, set the decision of Judge Thorne aside. At that hearing the Secretary of State was represented by Senior Presenting Officer Mr C. Avery, who conceded that the grounds of appeal had been made out in the following terms:,

       At the outset the Presenting Officer indicated that on the basis of the accepted facts, there did appear to be a material error of law in the determination and as such the respondent consented to the determination being set aside and the matter re-heard. The sponsor had mental health issues and there was evidence of financial support, phone calls and visits......